Thankful: That Revenge is Not Mine

Never take your own revenge, beloved, 

but leave room for the wrath of God, 

for it is written, 

"VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.

Romans 12:19

The news has been filled with headline after headline regarding Christopher Dorner, the former LAPD police officer who has been terrorizing Los Angeles police families and the population in general.  Dorner was fired from the LAPD five years ago.  He saw himself as a whistle-blower who was fired without cause; the Department saw him as a bad cop who lied about his partner.  Dorner was undoubtedly frustrated by his inability to clear his name, but he let that frustration turn into a deadly rage that blossomed into a thirst for revenge.  A police captain's daughter and her fiance, a Riverside police officer, and a San Bernadino Sherriff's deputy lost their lives during his murderous rampage.

My dad taught me that living above what others were saying - proving them wrong by my life and my character, was the best form of revenge.  Edwin Chapin once said, "Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury."  Christopher Dorner may have been in the right or in the wrong over the issues that occurred five years ago when he was fired.  He may or may not have sought counseling to help him deal with his situation. There was still time to somehow find resolution and truth. But when he picked up a gun and began killing innocent people, he crossed a line from which there was no return. His quest for revenge finally came to an end in the smoking ruins of an empty cabin.

Revenge never quite turns out like we think it is going to.  It never wipes away the pain, or erases the injury from the mind.  It does not quench the fire of irritation at perceived injustice - it simply stokes the flames.  The old saying, Revenge is a dish best served cold" is incorrect.  Revenge is a dish best not served at all.

There is no revenge so sweet as forgiveness. 

~ Josh Billings